Paula Harrington

Paula and her husband, John, are the parents of five children and work with the church of Christ in Western KY. She is compiler and editor of the books, Once Upon a Bible Class, A Common Bond, and A Sunday Afternoon with the Preachers’ Wives. Her work has appeared in Christian Woman magazine, the Christian Chronicle newspaper, and numerous other sites and websites. A preacher’s kid, grand-kid, niece, and sister, she occasionally speaks at ladies events and lectureships. Book information can be found here: paulaharrington.wineskins.org

Every year around January, I have friends ask what my word of the year is and I never have one. I’ve always thought it was a neat idea but I never really got into it. But in the fall of 2016, I started thinking about and looking for my word for 2017. Something I could meditate on and gravitate to….

Hey 40-somethings, 50-somethings, 60-somethings. All you guys closer to my age than my kid’s age. We need to have a chat. Get off the young people’s backs. Quit using the word millennial as a derogatory term. Stop it. Stop sharing articles about how terrible they are. Stop criticizing your younger brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s a sin and Paul warned Timothy about people like you (I Timothy 4:12).

I was trying to get the attention of one of the kids at school the other day but the student wasn’t responding. At first, I thought he was in his own little world. Then as I said his name a bit louder, I decided he was flat out ignoring me. As I got even closer I wondered if something…

Can you imagine Jesus meeting the woman at the well, telling her he was the Messiah, healing this outcast of outcast’s brokenness, allowing her to bring her entire community to him and then a few years later starting a church where she wasn’t allowed to speak about any of that?

You may think this is going to be an article about issues but it’s not because honestly, I’m more concerned…

I saw a sweet, elderly lady Sunday morning and asked how she was doing. She replied that she couldn’t complain. But she didn’t stop there. She grinned and added, “Oh, I could! But I’m choosing not to.” I want to be more like her.

We could all whine about the state our nation is in and the direction…

It was many years ago when an acquaintance heard where I worshiped and quipped, “Oh, aren’t you the church who thinks you’re the only ones going to Heaven?” Flash forward a decade or so and another associate remarked, “You’re the ones who don’t believe in instrumental music, right?”
It’s a bit vexing that the world…

I was asked recently where I thought the churches of Christ were headed. I started thinking about the issues that plague the Kingdom. We all have an opinion on gender equality, instrumental music, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (or not) and the general apathy that resides within our auditoriums but none of those came to mind first.

I’ve written extensively on my father and his role in my faith. You can find my favorite article here. The next person who had a measurable spiritual impact came into my life at another formative time.

I was a 20 year old mother with no parents and in a crumbling marriage. I was well acquainted with the church of Christ. I…

About once a week I get the prompt from Google informing me that Chrome has failed to shut down correctly. In their eagerness to simplify my life they always offer the, ever so helpful, option of just clicking restore. If only life were that easy.

We’re talking a lot about Biblical Restoration these days, but I wonder if we’re truly prepared…